10 Fast Facts About Toyota

You may just have bought yourself a shiny new Toyota sedan, or perhaps still considering buying one. But you may not know the brand well enough. For most people, the fact that Toyota is a Japanese car manufacturer is enough to help them make their decision of whether or not they want to buy that car. However, besides the long history of expansion in Japanese market, this famous brand has a number of impressive notes on the books. Here is a list of 10 cool facts that you probably didn’t know about Toyota:

Since 1966, Toyota has been manufacturing and selling Corolla every 37 seconds on average. As of 2013, the rate has gone much faster at every 27 seconds on average. The sales have hit an unprecedented 40 million, which is absolutely mind-boggling.

Local Manufacturing

Since 1957, Toyota has expanded the scope of its sales across the entire world. In almost 50 years, Toyota has managed to set up production bases and showrooms in over 170 countries and regions all over the globe. Even McDonalds doesn’t have as many restaurants worldwide! Because of Toyota’s successful policy of “producing vehicles where the demand exists,” there are more than 50 production bases in over 25 countries and regions including Australia.

Leading Manufacturer of Hybrid

Toyota has the largest hybrid model line-up in the world. The famous Toyota Prius, launched in 1997 as the first mass produced hybrid vehicle, has reached its target of 1 million unit sales each year, as of 2012. At Australia’s Altona factory, the Camry Hybrid is one of the vehicles manufactured there.

Best Selling Nameplate

According to the statistics, Corolla is the bestselling nameplate for vehicles all over the world. As of 2013, the total number of Toyota Corolla nameplates that have been sold is 30 million, which is astonishing. What is even more astonishing is that it has been the best-selling nameplate since 1997 when the cumulative sales went over 30 million units. You would think that it would have a stronger competition in today’s automobile market but Corolla still stands out as the best-selling one.

2013 Toyota Camry XLE. Image credit: William Maley

First Country to Import Toyota

Australia was the first country in the world to import Toyota Corolla from Japan in November 1966, which was just a month after the vehicle was launched in Japan. After that, Australia started manufacturing Corolla from 1968 until 1999. Even now, it is the most in-demand automobile in the country. In fact, one out of every five vehicles sold in the country is a Corolla.

Most Ethical Multinational Corporation

It has been four consecutive years since the Covalence Ethical Ranking has been declaring Toyota to be the most highly ranked ethical corporation in the world. Their rankings are based on data about product social utility, waste management, human rights policy and labor standards.

Supporting Employment Prospects

Toyota has a lot of obligations towards its employees. The company has created over 365,000 jobs in the United States alone. Similarly, there are 240 Toyota franchises, because of which, there are over 30,000 jobs being supported by the company.

Best Resale Value

According to many market researches that have been carried out in the last decade, Toyota has the most models for cars with best resale value in the market. From Land Cruiser for premium utility vehicles to hybrid Prius for alternative fuel vehicles, Toyota’s units sell like hot cakes in the previously owned vehicles businesses.

Research and Development

Every year, Toyota spends over $9 billion on research and development towards the future automobile technologies. Nine billion dollars per year means more than one million dollars an hour, which is more than any company in the world spends on research and development.

Awards

The Toyota Camry has won the U.S. Sales Crown 12 times in a row, which makes it the top selling car in the country.

Erin Warbrook

Erin Warbrook is a freelance writer from Perth, Western Australia. She is a car and travel lover, often going on road trips around the great Aussie outback.